Norwegian Mountains, Nordland

Vikerheia & Vikerfjellet, July 5 2009


To the main Vikerfjellet page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)

 
The route

The route
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It was good to be back in Brønnøysund. The trip from Sunnmøre had been long and strenuous -  a 900km drive, with the ascent of Snøhetta Stortoppen (2286m), Snøhetta Midttoppen (2278m) and Holmshatten (620m) along the way. Mom had served me an excellent breakfast, I had met with a couple of good friends, and made well sure there was enough beer in the cooler. Now that everything was "in place", a minor afternoon hike was called for...

I didn't feel like anything big, so I chose what may possibly be the lowest independent top in Brønnøy - Vikerfjellet (145m). Mom had been there before, but joined me. The only path she could remember was the one up Vikerheia, so that would be our starting point.

I like Torget island. There are lots of sandy beaches, plenty of rugged terrain (Torghatten in particular) and good views towards the mainland tops. Size and height don't always matter. And on this afternoon, the colours were especially intense.

 

Torgvikran

Torgvikran
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We left the Vikerheia trailhead 3:05pm and reached the cairn 25 minutes later. It normally doesn't take that long to get there, but I just to had have some fun on some huge rocks. Mom was a bit concerned about the cleft between us and Vikerfjellet, but normally follows willingly when I take the lead. She's well aware that I'm cruel enough to give her a challenge or two along the way, but she also knows that it wouldn't be something she can't handle.

We got across the first cleft without any problems, but the second cleft looked more challenging. An obvious route presented itself right away, but there were two questions; a) how to get into the cleft, and b) would mom manage to get to the other side?

It all sorted itself out quite nicely. There was an easy route into the cleft, and mom ably displayed some competent scrambling.

The third cleft was even bigger than the second, and it wasn't obvious that we could get across. But upon closer inspection, we found that there was nothing to worry about. The ridge we were on merged gently with the summit ridge.

The 3rd cleft

The 3rd cleft
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It was time to discuss how we should get back down. We decided to head northeast until we could see the forest road near Einvollen. We then aimed for this road, which took us back to the main road. This was easy terrain all the way. The 1,7km walk back to the car was a bit boring, but that was OK. After all, the summer vacation had up to now been just terrific!

We reached the car 4:50pm, 1:45m after leaving. No more hikes today. There was beer in the cooler and (soon) pizza in the oven...

 

Vikerfjellet

Vikerfjellet
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Next report: Gullsvågfjellet on Vega

 

Pictures

The first set of pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6.

 
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To Vikerheia

0. Trip tracks 1. The trailhead 2. Torgvikran 3. Big rocks 4. Cool cliffs 5. Torghatten 6. Towards Vikerheia 7. More big rocks 8. I just had to touch one of them 9. Hello! 10. Mom is signing us in

To Vikerfjellet

11. Vikerfjellet 12. Einvolltinden 13. Looking for a way into the first cleft 14. The second cleft 15. Mom scrambles up on the other side 16. The third cleft 17. Gateway to the top 18. Mom walks along cleft #3 19. On top of Vikerheia

Wide-angle view Vikerfjellet

20. Wide-angle view from Vikerfjellet

Zoom views from Vikerfjellet

21. Zoom view from Vikerfjellet 22. Zoom view from Vikerfjellet

Descent

23. Descending Vikerfjellet 24. Vega mountains 25. Heading for a forest road 26. Einvolltinden 27. Watching out for cows 28. Back on the main road 29. Yet-another big rock 30. Face in the sky

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